Despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that his war in Iran will soon be complete, the commander-in-chief’s special envoy to the Middle East says he doesn’t know how or when the conflict will end.
Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were in negotiations with Iranian officials concerning its nuclear program when the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a joint attack on Iran.
At least 1,230 people in Iran have been killed in the conflict, according to the Associated Press. At least seven U.S. service members have also died.
During an episode of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Witkoff was questioned by host Sara Eisen Tuesday about how the war will end.
“So, how do you see this ending, this war?” she asked.
Witkoff replied, “I don’t know, Sara.”
“I know this, that President Trump is the wrong guy to go up against. That’s what I know. He has drawn a red line, and that is that Iran cannot have a [nuclear] weapon,” he said. “And yes, they say they don’t. They don’t want one. But all of their actions indicate the exact opposite. So, he’s just not the right guy to tangle with, and I would suggest they don’t.”
The Trump administration and Netanyahu have justified the war by insisting that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, despite Trump saying last year that Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely obliterated” by his airstrikes at the time.
Messaging from Trump officials has been inconsistent regarding the state of the war. Witkoff says he doesn’t know how or when the war will end. Trump told CBS News on Monday that it is “very complete, pretty much.”
Around the same time he made that comment, the Defense Department’s rapid response social media page posted a message saying “We Have Only Just Begun to Fight,” which appeared to contradict Trump’s claim that the war was nearly over.
When pressed by ABC News for clarification Monday, Trump said the war was both over but also not over.
“Well, I think you can say both. The beginning — it’s the beginning of building a new country, but they certainly, they have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump said. “We could call it a tremendous success right now. As we leave here, I could call it. Or we could go further and we’re going to go further.”
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Little changed on Tuesday when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faced reporters. Hegseth refused to give anything resembling a timeline for the war.
He said that the U.S. would end the war in Iran “on our timeline” and “at our choosing.”
Hegseth added that the “president has set a very specific mission to accomplish, and our job is to unrelentingly deliver that,” before saying that ultimately Trump will determine when the war ends.
“Now he gets to control the throttle. He’s the one deciding. He’s the one elected on behalf of the American people when we’re achieving those objectives. And so, it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end. That’s his,” Hegseth said. “And he’ll continue to communicate that.”
The “very complete” war appeared to escalate on Tuesday as the U.S. military claimed it destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command.
Trump threatened Iran with unprecedented “military consequences” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday in response to the mine-laying ships.
“If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
He said that any ship believed to be placing mines in the strait will be “dealt with quickly and violently.”
If the war is ending soon, neither Trump nor Iran’s Supreme National Security Council messaging reflects that outcome.
On Tuesday, Secretary Ali Larijani offered a thinly veiled threat to Trump after the president promised a violent military response if Iran tried to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats,” Larijani wrote. “Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”
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